Smoke: A Second-Hand Killer?

Tuesday October 7, 2008


As she absentmindedly flipped through her papers and anxiously tapped her feet underneath the wooden bench, Nancy St. Onge listened to the Onondaga County legislators state their support or rejection of overriding the county executive's Tobacco 19 veto.

St. Onge is the Tobacco Policy Coordinator for the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES. Her job is to train, evaluate and counsel people on tobacco policies and prevention. Yet she said her appearance at today’s meeting was as much personal as it was for business.

St. Onge has had breast cancer for the past five years, and the cancer is still spreading. She suspects second-hand smoke contributed to her cancer.

“My dad was a smoker and my former husband was a smoker,” St. Onge said. “There’s a tie between second-hand smoke and breast cancer.”

She stood behind the wooden podium today and spoke to the legislators in an attempt to convince them to support the override.

“Anyone who we can stop from smoking because we prevented them from starting … are better off,” St. Onge said during her speech. “Maybe [this law] won’t make a major dent; but any dent, any life saved is worth it.”

However, her words did not convince the necessary two-thirds majority of the legislature. With a final vote of eleven in favor and eight against, the legislature fell two votes short. As the Legislature Chair Bill Meyer slammed down his gavel announcing the rejection of the override, St. Onge picked up her “I L♥VE NY SMOKEFREE!” tote bag and left the legislature hall looking disappointed but determined.